My Brother, not my Father, and yet
by the de-anoned anon
Summary: xXx "Every night I would wait for you to fall asleep so I could write down all the advice you told me. It was hard to write at night, but I managed." xXx De-anon from kink meme.


**Prompt: **_While playing outside in the garden, bitty!Germany trips and ends up scraping his knees and hands. Tearfully he runs to his brother, who panics over seeing his awesome little bro hurt._

_So he patches up crying Bitty!Germany like a good 'father-figure'. :)_  
_Adorable cuteness please!_

* * *

"Gilbert, Gilbert!" A small toddler, around five years of age, waddled over to his brother and tugged on his pants, looking up with watery blue eyes. Prussia looked down a smiled; not an egotistical smile, not a boastful smile, but a simple one, which made the boy giggle happily. He stooped down and picked Germany up, ruffling the blond hair with a large, battle-worn hand.

"Hey there, kiddo! What can I do for ya?"

Ludwig frowned slightly and pushed Prussia's hand away weakly, straightening his short locks back to perfection. "Can we go outside? I like going outside!"

"Sure!~ Nothing like some exercise to build up those muscles, eh? It's how you win wars; don't forget that~" Gilbert laughed good-naturedly, shifting his hold on Ludwig to his right arm and walking out to the garden.

It was a simple garden, surrounded by large oak trees and well kept. There was a small outlying of rocks still leftover from building the garden, but it was surrounded by flowers and seemed harmless. But even so…

"Stay away from the rocks, okay? I trust you, but there's no way I would ever trust a hulking piece of stone…they don't have faces! So no going near them." Gilbert nudged Ludwig in the opposite direction with a chuckle, making sure he was a safe distance away before wandering over to a bench to relax in the sun.

Germany nodded, not really paying attention to what Prussia was saying. All that mattered was the calming breeze, or the sun shining down warmly on his skin, or the soft blades of grass that brushed against his legs lightly as he—

A small butterfly passed by his line of vision, colored black and gold and red, and it was so pretty, that tricolor. Although he couldn't place as to why, Germany liked those colors together, so he clapped his hands in glee and followed after the insect aimlessly, unaware of his surroundings. The butterfly fluttered in a criss-crossed pattern, unknowingly leading Ludwig to the rocks until he tripped and fell on the uneven surface with a helpless gasp.

He stood up on shaky legs and looked down at himself. Ludwig saw that he scratched both his knees and hands so that they were a light pink with angry red lines sliced across his skin.

Tears welled up in his big, turquoise eyes. He couldn't cry! What would Prussia think of him? But it hurt, so he ran back towards his brother who was now sitting on the ground, chewing a stalk of grass absentmindedly. Upon hearing Ludwig run towards him, Gilbert turned around abruptly, eyes widening in surprise.

"Bruder? What's wrong?" He stood up and brushed his knees off, tilting his head curiously as to why his little brother went through a sudden mood change. "Did you hurt yourself?"

Ludwig sniffled sadly, holding out the palms of his hands and pointing down at his scratched up knees. While his cuts hadn't started bleeding, it didn't make the pain go away. Gilbert sucked in a breath, crimson eyes softening as he gently grabbed Ludwig's hand, pulling him towards a small stream.

"C'mon, buddy. Let's get you cleaned up, okay?" Prussia slipped his coat off and began tearing it into even makeshift bandages. He sat Germany down next to the small river bed and dipped a piece of cloth into the cool water. Sticking his tongue out in concentration, he wiped the dirt and small pebbles away from Ludwig's skin, grabbing a clean bandage and wrapping it around his cuts gently.

"Didn't I tell you to be careful? Well, it's not entirely your fault, I suppose. I should've been watching you…" It wasn't until much later that Germany realized that that was the closest Prussia ever came to admitting he did something wrong. "…but make sure you clean these, m'kay? Otherwise it burns and hurts like a bi- Like something that hurts a lot."

Ludwig shook his head up and down obediently, standing up when Prussia had finished. He fisted his hands and moved his legs back and forth. When he found it didn't hurt anymore, Germany smiled brightly and hugged Prussia's legs, earning himself yet another mussing up of his hair (to which he glared weakly at, fixing it _again_), thanking him over and over again before going off and resuming his search for that butterfly again.

_Really, such a cute kid…_

* * *

Germany had been cleaning up and was almost finished too, until Prussia burst into the house and stormed in, his white hair wild and mussed up and crimson eyes blazing fiercely in a mixture of irritation and rage.

"Oi, Ludwig! I need you to patch me up! I've got this huge ass cut and it's bugging the hell outta me…" Prussia continued ranting about every single wound he received as Germany took the first aid kit out with a sigh.

"Bruder. Get over here and sit down so I can help you." Prussia made a big deal out of it, complaining about how he shouldn't have to walk to the bathroom, the bathroom should walk to him, or some utter nonsense that Germany couldn't understand.

Prussia waved his hands around, detailing all the aspects of what he went through, ranging from vicious dogs to underground mines and guard towers that were so high they disappeared in the clouds. Germany knew that most, if not all, of Prussia's story was true, but he remained silent, cleaning the multiple cuts and wounds a little harder than necessary with rubbing alcohol and applying the bandages to them, except the smaller ones because apparently "chicks dig scars, Luddy. Don't ever forget that."

Once Ludwig was finished and finally able to resume cleaning up the bathroom, Prussia leaned back and smiled. Not that boastful smile, or that cocky, egotistical smile, but that familiar one that was kind and caring.

"I remember when I used to clean you up. You remember? You always used to fall and scratch yourself up…I wondered if maybe you were stupid or something, but then I realized that nope, my little bro was just exploring the world." Prussia sighed wistfully, obviously romping around in his own little world. "And then I used to give you all sorts of advice. Not that I really expected you to think anything of it, but it didn't hurt…"

Germany looked up and stared at Prussia until he squirmed slightly on his place on the counter. "What? Do I have something on my face?"

Without saying a word, Germany walked over to his office and pulled open a small cabinet revealing a neat stack of old books and journals. He pulled one out deftly and flipped through its pages, nodding in satisfaction before walking back over to Prussia and placing the object in his hands with a simple "Read this."

Prussia raised an eyebrow but complied, glancing down at the contents of the journal. He almost gasped when he noticed that it was Germany's handwriting from when he was just a little kid, but regained his composure with what dignity he had left, and skimmed through the pages quickly.

_"Today, we went over to Mr. Austria's house and Bruder said that I shouldn't grow up to be like him. I'm still not exactly sure why, because I like Mr. Austria's music, but if Bruder says not to, then I won't."_

_"Today, Bruder told me that it's pertinent to know the battle field when I go to war. I'm not sure what that means, but if he said so, I should probably follow it."_

_"Today, Bruder showed me a sword and explained what I was supposed to do wi-"_

_"Today, Bruder and I went over battle tactics and-"_

_"Today, I learned that if I go to war-"_

_"Today, we practiced fightin-"_

_"Today, Bruder taught-"_

_"Today, we-"_

Prussia looked up at Germany, his mouth hung open in surprise. "What's this?"

He only got a sly smile in return and the book was snatched from his hands. "Every night I would wait for you to fall asleep so I could write down all the advice you told me. It was hard to write at night, but I managed." Germany flipped through the pages absentmindedly. "You gave me good advice, even though I didn't know it."

Gilbert smiled fondly and ruffled Germany's hair just like he used to when he was younger.

And this time, Germany didn't protest.

* * *

**A/N: **Nothing historical, I have no idea how Prussia got all banged up, and...I have a problem with incorporating their human and country names. I can't stay with one or the other, I have to have both. OTL What is wrong with me. Butum. Yeah. Hopefully you know that "Bruder" is brother, and...okay.


End file.
